Caesar and the Celtic Divinities – The Celtic gods

THE passage in which Cæsar sums up the Gaulish pantheon runs: “They worship chiefly the god Mercury; of him there are many symbols, and they regard him as the inventor of all the arts, as the guide of travellers, and as possessing great influence over bargains and commerce. After him they worship Apollo and Mars, Juppiter and Minerva. About these they hold much the same beliefs as other nations. Apollo heals diseases, Minerva teaches the elements of industry and the arts, Juppiter rules over the heavens, Mars directs war. All the Gauls assert that they are descended from Dispater, their progenitor.” As will be seen, the Gauls had many other gods than these, while the Roman gods, by whose names Cæsar calls the Celtic divinities. As the Greeks called by the names of their own gods those of Egypt, Persia, and Babylonia, so the Romans identified Greek, Teutonic, and Celtic gods with theirs. The identification was seldom complete, and often extended only to one particular function or attribute. But, as in Gaul, it was often part of a state policy, and there the fusion of cults was intended to break the power of the Druids. Please watch the video for more information on the Celtic gods or visit the channel for much more from the world of mythology here at mythology explored by ANCIENT MYSTERY on Youtube.